The Genius, Tiny Step Will Make Your Face Masks Work Even Better

Masks pretty much save my life every single week. OK, maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but some days I'm honestly not sure what I'd do if I couldn't come home and cover my face in Sisley Black Rose Cream Mask (when my skin is going crazy) or Karuna Hydrating+ Face Mask (when it's drier than the Sahara). The only problem with my mask love is that once I wash them off, all too often my skin is left feeling dry, as all of those skin-perfecting nutrients swirl away down the drain

Enter the solution to all (OK, some) of my problems—Origins Maskimizer Skin-Optimizing Mask Primer. It's a facial spray infused with the company's special formula of "marine algae extract" that's designed to be sprayed all over your face pre-mask to help the mask formula spread more evenly and ensure that all of those active ingredients really penetrate your skin.

I decided to test it out with my creamy Glossier Mega Greens Galaxy Pack. Usually I put this mask on after washing and drying my face, which can make it a bit of a struggle to spread it evenly over my skin. After a quick spritz of the Maskimizer, the mask spread much more easily, which is definitely a point in its favor but not enough to sell me on the spray all on its own. The real magic came after the mask dried, when I was surprised to find that the mask felt noticeably less cakey. Most important, my face felt much softer after taking the mask off. I can't really attest to the Maskimizer helping the ingredients seep in better, but I will say that I usually rush to slather some moisturizer on my tight, dry-feeling skin immediately after washing off a clay mask, and after using the mask primer, I didn't need to.

To find out how Origins's red algae formula had managed to keep my face from feeling like it had shrunk in the wash, I talked to cosmetic chemist Randy Schueller. "Algae extract primary consists of polysaccharides, which act as an emollient, and when that is put under a mask, it helps it spread better," he says. "The butylene glycol and glycerine will help with spreading." Joshua Zeichner, the director of cosmetic and clinical research in dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, says that the algae in the product will also help keep skin hydrated: "Algae acts as an antioxidant and has hydrating properties." He adds, "It's also used in some cosmetics as a thickening agent, which could help with spreading masks."